A Secret Prince
by QueenAnneTudor
Summary: Prince Edward is not long for this world, leading Henry to discover the truth about his past wife, Anne Boleyn.


October 17, 1537

"Charles, get my horse ready." He bellowed at his friend. Charles stared at him, trying to figure out what his King was preparing to do. His son was born only a a few days ago, his Queen was slowly recovering. But it was widely rumored that the young Prince Edward was not long for the world. Would he follow his oldest brother, Henry to the grave so soon after birth.  
Charles sighed as he leanred that Henry was headed towards the Tower, towards the women Charles knew still truly held Henry's heart. Anne. The Queen in the Tower. Henry dismounted, and marched towards the Queen's apartments where he had imprisoned Anne early last year. She had betrayed him, had slept with many men. But even then he could not bare to sign her death warrant.

"Henry..." Anne stopped suddenly, dropping to a deep curtesy. She was almost completely lying on the floor. Her brother, George, quickly dipped into a low bow.  
"You have lost the right to call me by that name." He admonished.  
"I am deeply sorry, your Majesty." Anne quickly whispered from her position, her eyes darting off to the side. Henry noticed and followed her gaze. He gasped loudly as he saw a small child, in his very own image. Henry marched to Anne, pulling her up hard. His hand gripping her wrist so tightly it began to bruise. He pushed to her against the wall, and with his free hand he gripped her face.  
"Whose child is that?" He questioned. But he knew the truth, this was his son.  
"Your son, Henry, your Majesty." She barely said above a whisper.  
"Mama." A young voice from behind Henry and Anne cried out. Charles stood in the doorway, in shock. Anne had clearly been pregnant when she was arrested. She had the King's child. A healthy son. George held the child in his arms protectively and motioned little Henry to come over to him.  
Henry released Anne, turning around to see a girl the same age as the boy in George's arms.

"Henry" Charles tried to get the King's attention. "You Majesty." Henry turned to look at Charles. Within seconds he had Charles pushed against the wall, his hands wrapped around his throat. "You told me she betrayed me." Charles was struggling to breathe, Anne had dropped to the ground hugging her son tightly. "Henry please stop this." She pleaded. George had not let go of his neice and moved to Anne. Henry finally snapped out of his rage and released Charles just as Master Kingston and the guards entered. Kingston knelt down next to Anne, pulling her to him and holding the sobbing lady. Henry watched the tender scene, it was clear that Kingston had grown to care for his prisoner. "Kingston" Henry ordered the man to walk with him.  
"Why were these children kept secret?" Henry asked.  
"Your Majesty, I personally wrote a letter annoucing the children's birth. And gave to Master Cromwell mere hours after Lord Henry and Lady Cecily were born." Cecily, the little girl who looked almost identical to his Elizabeth. Kingston could tell by the King's expression the letter had not been delivered. Expecting the very next question, Kingston answered preumptively. "Lady Anne drafted a letter upon discovery she was with child. The letter was read by my wife and myself, before once more being given to Master Cromwell to deliver." Cromwell.  
"Speak to no one about the events today. Pay the physician well for his silence." Anne would be checked over to make sure Henry had done no lasting damage. And Charles was ordered to remain in the Tower. To be housed with George Boleyn, as a punishment for his part in the conspiracy against his ex-wife.

"Your Majesty." Edward Seymour approached the King, the sadness was overpowering his features. Henry was ushered into Jane's chambers, her face flush and stained with tears. Henry looked at Jane before walking over to her. He kissed her on the forehead, and without saying a word left her alone. Prince Edward was dead, and Henry was now once more without a legitimate heir. He had three useless bastard daughters and a son in his very image that he had lost due to Cromwell's actions. He locked himself in his chambers, refusing to speak to anyone. His best friend had betrayed him. The woman he loved, he locked in the Tower and now his infant son was dead. The guards outside his door were terrified just hearing as things would crash against the wall. They assumed that it was loss of the prince that caused his madness. Days later he finally called for Thomas Cranmer.  
"Thomas, you spoke to Anne after her imprisonment, what did she say."  
"She wanted me to listen to her confessions." He paused trying to read the King's expression. "She confessed to being proud, and not always kind to the Lady Mary. But she denied that she had ever betrayed you by taking others to her bed. She was sincere. I completely believe she was innocent of all the charges." Henry sunk further in his chair.  
"Cromwell orchestrated this, he manipulated his King." Henry bellowed. "I want his head." Henry didn't trust Edward Seymour, but he decided he would be the one tasked with taking Cromwell to the Tower. Cromwell looked up towards the Queen's chambers as he was walked into the Tower grounds. He would be housed not in the dungeon, but a very sparse room. His trial would start soon, he would be tried on conspiracy against the King. The birth of the twins was still not known by most at court.

"Anne" Henry looked at her as she sat on the floor playing with little Henry and Cecily. She looked up at him with fear in her eyes. News of Prince Edward's death had reached her, and she hadn't seen George since the day the truth was discovered.  
"Cromwell has been arrested for betrayal. I should have never listened to him and Charles. I believed the lies, I..."  
"I thought you knew I was innocent." She barely whispered. But Henry heard her, and it broke his heart. Anne had thought he knew she was innocent and still had her arrested. Humilated her. Destroyed her.  
"Anne, please believe me, I never would have..." He stopped himself, questioning if he had been left to his own device would he have done more to her than even Cromwell.  
"I am sorry to hear of the death of the young Prince Edward."  
"Sweetheart, I love you. Please believe me." He tried to get her to look at him, but she looked away. He had broken her spirit, and the only happiness she seemed to have anymore was her children. The ones she was now afraid he would take from her. "Tell me what I can do to have you believe me."  
"Edward, he did this." She whispered. Henry was confused, who was she talking about.  
"Jane's brother?" He asked cautiously. Anne nodded. "How sweetheart?"  
Anne took a deep breathe and finally looked up at Henry. "Who do you think pushed Jane into your bed?" Henry gasped. "Jane was once a sweet person, but I knew the poisonous words she spoke of me. Claiming I would harm Princess Mary." It was true, Jane had made Henry believe Anne was a monster, and was trying to have his daughter murdered. But how did she know of such things, everyone around him when he was with Jane were her family. "Anne who was telling you these things?"  
"Thomas Seymour. He was a loyal friend, and did not like seeing his sister being used by Edward and their father for power. I believe he could see the same thing happening to Jane, that my father and uncle did to me." Henry listened to Anne as she told him of how she felt before her imprisonment, and he began to get more angry by the minute. He couldn't believe how much he had been fooled by them. By the day's end, Edward Seymour had been arrested. Anne, George and the twins were moved in the middle of the night to a small manor house just outside of London. Henry sent Thomas Seymour to be Anne's protector. He was now trying to deal with what to do with his marriage to Jane, and his love for Anne.

It had been weeks since Prince Edward died and the last time Henry saw Jane. He knew he would have to go to his wife, and try to talk to her.  
"Jane."  
"Henry, please I must know why my brother was arrested?"  
"Treason. Your beloved brother is a traitor, who conspired with Master Cromwell to destroy an innocent woman." He was not sugar coating anything, as he wanted to see if Jane knew anything of the plot against Anne. Jane gasped in shock. Henry couldn't tell if it was because of Edward being caught in his deceit or that Edward had moved against the King.  
"Innocent woman? My love, who are you speaking about?" She asked most timidly. Henry studied her face to read any signs of her guilt or innocence.  
"Anne, my wife, the Queen of England." Jane looked at him in disbelief. "Henry, but I am your Queen." She said as assertively as she could muster. Henry walked over to Jane, taking her hands in his. "Jane, darling, I care for you deeply but my heart still belongs to Anne. You must have known. I could have had her excecuted, but could never sign the death warrant." Jane pulled her hands from Henry's in shock. Henry had told her that Anne had been killed, in a private execution with only Charles Brandon, Master Cromwell and Master Kingston as witnesses. All of England had thought Anne and her brother were dead. "You lied to me." Henry could see the hurt in her eyes and it was killing him. He did love her once, but he knew he would never stop loving Anne. And deep in his heart he knew God was showing him the truth with the death of his son. If Edward had lived he never would have discovered his son and daughter. Or the treachery in his own court, by those closest to him. He pulled away from her.  
"Would you have me murder an innocent woman, madam?" He was stern, he was angry. Jane stood up facing him. "She may have not slept with all those men including her brother, but she poisoned Queen Katherine. She wanted to murder the Princess Mary." Princess, Anne had called her the same and yet it didn't make his blood boil as it did coming from Jane. "You knew, you knew she was innocent of the crimes Cromwell concocted." Jane began to shake, tears flowing down her face as she dropped to the floor. "Henry, I did not know. Please you must believe me."  
"But you accused her of poisioning Katherine, you wanted her to die for crimes she did not commit because you and your family believed rumors of Katherine's death. Katherine was not poisoned, you idiot." Henry knew the rumors, about Katherine's heart being blackened after her death. But he knew deep down it was his fault. "She died of a broken heart." He said softly. He didn't tell Jane about his son, and if he was honest with himself he hadn't decided on his marriage to Jane when he came to see her. She had just made him so angry. He left her crying on the floor. She was ordered to stay in her chambers. She was basically a prisoner.

Anne was sitting in the grass watching as her children played with their uncle. Thomas was sitting next to her. "Anne, word has been sent that the King is arriving today." Henry had spent the last week travelling from the court to Anne's country hideaway. He had to get back to her, he needed to know if she could forgive him. He couldn't live without her, he knew that now. Jane been moved from the Queen's chambers, the rooms completely cleaned and redecorated to Anne's style. Jane was housed in a smaller room at Whitehall.  
"Anne, my own sweetheart." He stopped as he could see Thomas helping her rise from the soft ground. "Your Majesty." Thomas bowed, as he placed Anne's hand in Henry's.  
"Anne, I have come here to beg your forgiveness. I should have never listened to Cromwell and Brandon. My heart knew the truth, but I let my anger get the better of me. " Henry dropped to his knees taking her hands in his, eyes looking up at her pleading. "Those long months, I held in my heart such sadness. I believed completely you knew I was innocent, but wanted me to be as good as dead as you paraded that whore around as your Queen." Anne couldn't bring her to speak her name. Yes she still knew deep down that Jane wasn't completely evil, but she had lost her husband and daughter because of Jane's games. "Did you ever question how easily she figuritavely walked through my blood for a crown?" Anne questioned, she didn't intend to be so bold but she was so hurt. "Anne, I ..."  
"You did not care, you felt betrayed. You wanted me to suffer knowing you wed so shortly after my supposed death." Anne turned away, her brother and Thomas watched from mere yards away. The children's governess had taken them inside as soon as the King arrived.  
"Anne, I am sorry. I ..." Anne turned back to him.  
"Henry, I love you. I never stopped loving you. Your Queen and her disgusting implied I never loved you, that it was just a game. Did you ever stop to think that my love was geniune, that it was only because of my love my father, my uncle and even Cromwell felt like I was to be used for power?"  
Henry was shocked, he had could not remember the last time he felt Anne had been so honest with him. "I was afraid of what you would do if you found out about what they had done. It seems my fears were correct, being it only took your whore's sweet poison to seal my destruction."  
"Anne..." Anne dropped to her knees in front of Henry, suprising everyone she grabbed his face and kissed him deeply. "Remember I have always loved you." She pulled away from him before walking away. Henry stared at her as she left, George following her.  
"Give her time, Your Majesty. She loves you."  
"Thomas what can I do to prove it to her."  
"Do you wish to have her back as your wife and Queen? What about Jane?"  
"Jane is currently under house arrest, it was apparent she knew of the conspiracy against Anne. Anne is the Queen in my heart." But the problem Henry had been struggling with was how to have her be his Queen again, and his son his heir. He was born out of wedlock. He was essentially a bastard. Henry didn't sleep well that night, Anne was only a few rooms away. And it was clear as much as she still loved him, she hated him as well.

It had been a week, and Anne and Henry were slowly getting to a more civil ground. She had stopped yelling at him and the crying was getting less. Henry just let her vent, he felt she deserved her anger. Thomas was helping him understand Anne's moods alot better. Today he would approach the subject looming over their heads. The traitors in the Tower, he hadn't set the trials yet. He didn't know how, not without annoucing Anne being alive.  
"Anne, I must return to London. The traitors in the Tower must be tried. I have delayed for much longer than I ever intended. Your survival will have to be revealed, as it was Brandon who suggested deceit to save me from signing your death warrant."  
"Henry, I have a request but I fear you may not understand the reasoning. Please spare Brandon his life, he may have hated me but I do not believe he ever thought my life would be in danger." Henry just nodded, he would not question her motives or try to convince her otherwise. Days after Henry returned to London, the trials began. Anne was declared alive, and Henry subsequently annulled his marriage to Jane. She was to remain in house arrest, while he figured out what he would do. Cromwell and Edward Seymour were both declared guilty, and would be beheaded mere days after sentencing. Brandon was and banished from court.  
"Charles, it was your words that allowed Cromwell to act against Anne, but you also were there to stay my hand. She is alive because of you, and you alive because of her. She begged me to spare your life." Charles nodded.

Anne walked into Hatfield, Elizabeth running up to her. "Mama." Anne hugged her tightly, crying as she clung to her daughter. "My darling, Elizabeth." Anne was free, but she knew there was still one more decision to be made. Henry. Thomas had been helpful to get her to give Henry a chance to win her love back fully.  
"Henry." Anne looked at him, before she ran to him. He pulled her into an embrace kissing her passionatley.  
"You are now without a Queen, so marry me." Anne said with her signature smile plastered on her face. "Anne, but our children would not be legitmate if we remarry. I will have our marriage declared valid." Anne shook her head, she had thought about this for a long time. "Declare your children legitimate based on good faith. The twins were conceived while we were still married, and Elizabeth and Mary both were born when you believed your marriages were true." Henry stared at at at the mention of Mary. "Mary deserves to be happy, Henry. She has been through more than anyone young lady should." It made sense, he could have his son as his heir and Mary's supporters would see her restored. Two months later, Anne and Henry were remarried. She was once more Queen, mother to the future king and with child once more. It would be the last child of Anne Boleyn. The young Prince Thomas was born in the wee hours of Christmas morning. Named for his protector Thomas Seymour. Jane was sent to a nunnery shortly after her elder brother's death. Princess Mary took years to forgive Anne, but she finally saw the true Anne. Mary ended up marrying Duke Phillip of Bavaria, she had let go the notion of being Queen of England and did not wish to leave her home. Anne Boleyn, Queen of England, died in 1578. Her husband had died over thirty years before her after falling from his horse. King Henry IX married Queen Mary of Scots upon her sixteenth birthday.

* Note in this story, Henry never had his injury as I believe that really led to his personality change that allowed him to murder his wife in cold blood.


End file.
